travel - Travel Blogs & Travel Guides (2021)

A Homestay In Guatemala

A homestay in Guatemala is an amazing way to get to know the culture.

While visiting Guatemala recently I took part in a homestay with a local family in the small village of San Jorge la Laguna. The location is spectacular, with Lake Atitlán below and volcanoes and mountains surrounding. The village is small, with a few basic shops, a primary school all children can attend, a pub with a handful of tables, and a large church. A group of three of us were invited into Dora’s home to spend a full evening with her family. She was very welcoming and her three cheeky sons made the evening very entertaining.

Wanderlust Chloe Guatemala Homestay Family

Using my basic Spanish, I found out that Dora is a stay at home mum, as are most women in the village. She spends her days looking after the kids, taking them to school, cooking, cleaning and shopping for food in the nearby market town. Life is simple, but they seemed content.

Exploring Belize’s ATM Caves and Guatemala’s Tikal are two things you absolutely have to do if you visit Central America.

From the Belizian island of Caye Caulker, we returned to the mainland and travelled a few hours to the small town of San Ignacio. The town is home to a main square, large daily market, a few hotels, an iguana sanctuary and some ruins… But the main reason tourists visit the area is for the incredible Actun Tunichil Muknal Caves or the ATM Caves.

Taking A Tour Of The ATM Caves, Belize

This is one of the best things to do in Belize! The cave tour is not for the faint hearted, although apparently it has been done by kids as young as 4 and as old as 90! It’s a combination of a jungle trek, river crossing, cave swim, rock climb and historical tour. You’re kitted out with helmets with lights and reminded you will definitely get wet!

After 45 mins we had waded across three rivers, and trekked through an amazing jungle. We reached the entrance of the caves, clambered over some slippery rocks and swam the first part of the journey into the depths of the cave. Once in it was a case of manoeuvring over rocks, sliding down slopes, squeezing through tiny gaps while always wading through the cold water. It was an exhilarating journey and the caves were so beautiful inside. Walls glistened with crystals, and looking up it was hard not be impressed by the cathedral-like ceiling.

Caye Caulker in Belize is a paradise island with a motto of “Go Slow”. It turned out, on this boat trip, we’d be lucky to be moving at all!

I travelled to the Belizean island of Caye Caulker by water taxi from Belize City. Many people said this would be one of the highlights of my entire tour down Central America! It’s a paradise island, next-door to the island Madonna sang about in La Isla Bonita. Shack-like brightly coloured homes and weatherboard hotels line the 3 main streets, some on stilts waiting for storms to set in. Fishermen returned with their catches as we disembarked the boat. Life on Caye Caulker seemed relaxed and tranquil, and I could see why the island’s motto was ‘Go Slow’.

El Faro is the main restaurant located within Grand Residences – a luxury hotel/condo complex in Puerto Morelos, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

I’ll Only Be 5000 Miles Away…

How does it really feel to set off on a solo travel adventure?

“Speak to you soon – I’ll only be 5000 miles away.”

What a strange feeling.

A few weeks ago I left the UK to set off on a three month adventure. I left behind a job in the music industry which I’d found creative and exciting, but often very stressful. I spent one year managing pop artists and the year before working with stars from The X Factor. The day I boarded my flight to Mexico, I felt a million miles away from it all. It was very liberating!

I tucked into scones with jam and cream on my British Airways flight and enjoyed working my way through several films. After almost ten hours flying I was tired but excited, anxiously practising the Spanish I would need to use to buy my bus ticket. So… you can imagine my surprise when I go to collect my luggage in Cancun and bump into The X Factor crew, complete with host Dermot O’Leary and guest judge (and colleague from my days as a radio producer) Emma Bunton! The world I thought I was leaving behind appeared to be following me! Flight cases full of instruments and camera equipment marked ‘X Factor’ and ‘Judges Houses’ circled around the luggage belt. I couldn’t quite believe it! What are the chances?